The American Mardi Gras dates back to 1703 when Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, a New France colonizer, established the settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile, now known as Mobile. This is considered the first Mardi Gras of America. From there, Mardi Gras grew into a celebration filled with high-society balls and a procession where 16 men would push a bull’s head draped in white to signify the approaching of Lent.
In 1856, the Mistick Krewe of Comus was formed by six Mobile natives. John Milton’s “Comus” was chosen to represent the group and the character brought the mystical and magical ambience to the festival.
16 years later in 1872, Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff came to visit the carnival festivities. This prompted the official colors of the carnival to be assigned. Purple, gold and green symbolize justice, power and faith. Due to the arrival of Grand Duke Romanoff, the lyrics “If Ever I Cease to Love” became the carnival’s official anthem as Romanoff enjoyed the mantra.
The next year of 1873, the use of extravagant floats in parades became more apparent and important to the celebration due to the floats being made entirely in New Orleans instead of being sent from France. Over 100 years later in 1875, the governor of Louisiana, Henry Warmoth, made Mardi Gras a legal holiday by signing the Mardi Gras Act.
Now, Mardi Gras celebrations can be found taking place any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. The symbolism of Tuesday is because Mardi Gras translates to “Fat Tuesday” in French. Fat Tuesday represents the feasting that takes place weeks or days before Lent occurs.
At Mardi Gras parades now, people on floats toss colorful beads and trinkets to the crowds. Since food is in the name of the holiday, it is in fact a large part of the festivities. Moon Pies are a common snack that can be found, as well as king cake. King cake is a traditional sweet eaten at Mardi Gras celebrations. Inside the king cake, a small plastic baby is hidden, and whoever receives the slice with the baby is in charge of bringing the king cake the following year.
Though Mardi Gras is largely celebrated in southern states, many other places in America join in on the fun. Here at Pleasant Valley, French classes take part in their own Mardi Gras. “Every year the French department tries to bring the traditional spirit of Mardi Gras to PV,” senior Lily Feldman remarks. “Each student brings in snacks or traditional French food, and then we enjoy movies while learning more about the French culture.”
Cassidy Sorenson • Feb 14, 2018 at 1:03 pm
This was a really interesting article! I didn’t know much about Mardi Gras before this.